Yardfest headliner Janelle Monae’s forays into futuristic soul on her albums “The ArchAndroid” and “The Electric Lady” aren’t the first time a popular musician has crafted albums around heady concepts of dystopia and (occasionally) utopia. This week, the Arts Blog explores a few of our other favorite sci-fi-themed albums.

On “Wonderland,” Berglund cares less about meeting expectations than he does about eliminating them altogether. Like Lewis Carroll’s creation of the same name, the resulting landscape is simultaneously opulent and unsettling, both organic and artificial.

As was the case with “It’s A Corporate World,” the strength of “The Speed of Things” is its top-notch and sonically varied production. If only they were working with better songs. There are some great songs on “The Speed of Things,” but they’re far outnumbered by great moments in mediocre songs.

What do "Dead Poets Society," "Die Hard," and "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" all have in common? Answer: you can hear Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy" in all of them. Directors have been relying on classical music since the invention of the silver screen. Even during classical's present decline in popularity, you'll rarely make it through a modern movie without hearing something Thomas Jefferson would've considered an oldie. Of course, with thousands of directors mining the classical archives for score material, some pieces are bound to pop up more than occasionally. Watch out for five of the most overused classical pieces in film:

Saturday brought beards, and Sunday brought Boston Strong tank tops. This past weekend’s Boston Calling music festival drew a diverse crowd to City Hall Plaza to see acts ranging in genre from folk to trap, continuing the success its earlier incarnation had in May.

What makes the failure of “Kiss Land” so disappointing is that it comes from a musician who put out 2011’s best record: the mixtape “House of Balloons.” With a debut album this terrible, maybe the Weeknd should go back to making mixtapes.

The new single from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. takes them into slightly synth-ier territory, but remains properly quirky and oddly sultry. New Kids On The Block begin to show their age with cut-rate and poorly-disguised Auto-Tune. Meanwhile, Chris Brown's new single is lyrically uncomfortable.

Hollywood has recently taken an interest in re-releasing old favorites in 3D, but this is a misstep. 3D has proven itself as a powerful cinematic tool, yet it is often used as little more than a promotional tool. Much of the success of the recent re-releases is due to the audience's nostalgia for the films, not the fact that the films are now in 3D.

It used to be an accomplishment to make it through an entire Black Angels album in a single sitting. However, “Indigo Meadow” continues the work of its predecessor, “Phosphene Dream,” in stripping away this production in favor of a clear and classic style.